Wood-distilling apparatus.



1. w. SPURLQCK. woon msmLlNG APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1916.

Famine@'July11,1916.

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l v I Y wuamtoz E @a y a I atto/mw' Patented Julyv 11,. 19.16. 4 sHEETs-sHEET 2.

l. W. SPURLUCK.

WOOD DISTILLING APPARATUS.

APPLmATloN FILED FEB. 25. 191s,

l. W. SPURLOCK.

'woon msmum; APPARATUS. APPLICATHLN FILED. FEB. 25., l9 l6. 1 1 90,478, n Patented July 11, 1916.

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rlhe invention consists of the features of JOHN SP/URIJOCK, 0F `IEOIILKSLON, GEORGIA.

4 WOOD-DISTILLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1916.

Application filed February 25, 1916. Serial N o. 80,496,

Y 10 all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, JonN lV. SPUnLoon, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Folkston, in the county of Charlton and State or' Georgia, have invented new and useful In'iprovements in lVood-Distilling Apparatus, or' which theiollowing is a specilication,

This invention relates to a wood distilling apparatus, designed for the distillation ot' pme woods in the production of turpentine,V

pine oil7 tar and charcoal, and the separation oi the distillates from each other.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for treating wood by the process of destructive distillation, and which is oi" a type to eiliciently perform the distilling condensing and separating opera-` tions in a reliable and eiiicient manner, at a comparatively low cost for fuel and without material loss of the lighter vapors from overhi'mting` or ot' undue admixture of the turpentine and pine oil. p

A further object of the invention is to provide a distilling apparatus, embodying an inclosing casing and twofor more distilling kilns or chambers arranged therein, and provided with iiues vand chimneys for the most eiiicien.' application and use of all of ythe available units of heat and thedischarge of the products in a manner to reduceyliability of overheating, the kiln chambers being of a construction to admit ot the same being readily, conveniently and inexpensively built up of portable sections oli sheet metal, so that the erection of kilns at more or less remote points may be inexpensively carried of Fig. 2. Fig. Ltis a vertical longitudinall section on the line 4-4 ofl Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. F ig. 6 is a horizontal longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, through one of the kiln Walls.

Referring to the drawings, showing the application of my invention to a. distilling apparatus embodying two distilling chambers or kilns, l designates an outer inclosing casing, made of plain brick, fire brick, cement, metal or other suitable material, and which is of rectangular or oblong rectangular form and provided with a top or roof 2, preferably made of reinforced concrete, whichy top or roof also serves as the top or roof of a pair of duplicate kilns or distilling chambers 3 arranged within said inclining casing.

The kiln chambers 3 are each formed of side walls fi and a rear end Wall 5, said kiln chamber being open at the front and closed at the top by the cover 2, and resting at its base upon a bottom 6, which also forms the bottoni or door of the outer furnace chamber or casing 1 and the contained parts of the apparatus as an entirety. The portions of this `lioor forming the bottom of each kiln chamber' are provided with inclined surfaces 7 which slope from the sides of the chamber to a point 'midway of the length of the chamber so as to form a central gutter or drain chan-l nel S, for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

The- Wood 'to be treated is arranged in practice in stacks upon suitable wheeled trucks or cars which are run into the kiln chambers on central tracks 9, the open forward ends of the kiln chambers being closed, after having been charged, by suitable doors 10, of a construction to withstand and keep eoniined the contained heat. For the purpose of providing kiln chambers which may be conveniently constructed of portable sections, the Walls of each chamber are formed of sheet metal plates 'l1 which are provided with marginal outturned flanges l2, between which are placedmetallic fillers 13 secured to the 'flanges 'ofadjacent plates by bolts or rivets 14, said strips serving as reinforcing and packing elements. Where the outside casing or furnace casing is constructed of brick or other vmaterials which are easily procu'rable, the kiln chambers may be made of metallicsections as described with great convenience and economy, as the metal sections will be of a size to lbe easily made and transported by ordinary transportation facilities in command in districts where the distilling operations are to be carried out. It will, of course, be understood that when desired the outer or furnace casing may b'e made also of metallic sections suitably insulated to prevent chilling of the furnace and loss of heat therefrom. i

The kiln chambers are separated fr oin each other and from the sides and rear ends of the casing il to provide an intervening vertical longitiulinal flue 15 between the adjacent sides of the kilns, similar fines 16 be tween the outersides of the kilns and the side walls of the casing, and transverse fines 17 connecting said longitudinal lilies at the rear end of the apparatus, the arrangement being such that the heat supplied to the furnace chamber may surround the kilns as fully as possible to utilize all of the available heat units to heat the interior thereof to the desired degree and to maintain the working temperature in an easy and uniform manner. At the ends of the furnace casing, and preferably upon the exterior thereof are furnaces or combustion cha1nbers 18, designed to burn a suitable fuel and which are in communication through passages 1f.) with the internal fines for the flow of the products of combustion from said furnaces to the interior of the furnace casing and around the kiln chambers, so that the interior of the kilns will be heated in an obvious manner. The furnaces supplying the side fines are preferably arranged at one (the rear) end of the casing, ,while the furnace supplying the central flue is preferably arranged at the front of the casing, as shown, but any other desired arrangement of the furnaces may be employed. The object of the above described arrangement of the furnaces is to secure a more uniform and eduable distribution of the heat throughout the area of the kiln. For the purpose of further and more efficiently securing an equable distribution of the heat, the llues are subdivided by horizontal partitions 19 into upper and lower compartments, the upper compartments being heated solely by radiation and conduction from the lower compartments, which are in direct communication with the furnaces at one end and with the fines at the opposite end, the ilues ex- `tending downward through the upper compertinents. This arrangement of thc partitions prevents the overheating of the top `portion of the kiln, and the'more uniform heating of the lower portion of the kiln, the storage of heat within the upper compartments furthermore obviating any liability of the kiln becoming chilled or subjected to rapid temperature changes. The opposite or forward ends of the fines communicate with stacks or chimneys 20, through which the products of combustion after circulating through the tlues and heating the kiln chambers exhaust to the atmosphere.

.As will be evident a portion of the gases from the side furnaces pass through llues 1G forward to the stacks 20, while a portion of the gases from the center furnace pass backward through the center llue l5 to a stack 20. Also it will be evident that the r,cn1ainder of the gases not taking a direct course from the furnaces through the longitudinal lines to the stacks will commingle and lio'w through the various passages 1T before discharging through the stacks, thus securing a circulation throughout the entire area of the outer casing before discharging therefrom. The stacks open into the fines below the partition 19", which closes the space above said partition from the ilues below thus preventing the gases from passing to the space above the partition. This space serres as an air chalnbeifin )rhin-h the air is heated :from the lilies through coluluction and radiation, and which insulates thc retort llucs from the atmosphere to diminish liability ol' the chilling of the vapors.

The wood stacked upon the cars within `the kilnA chambers Ais subjected to a proper degree Aof `hcat to drive oli' thc wolatile constituents thereof for the production of turpentinc, vpine oil and tar, thc rcsiduc heilig left in the iorm of charcoal of substantially uniform line quality throughout. lt will be understood that the 'lighter and heavier volatile constituents or vapors driven from the wood are liberated for discharge within the kiln chambers, while, the tar drips down on to the lloor or bottoni surfaces of tho chambers and down the sloping sides thereof into the glitters or channels S. Arranged externally ol' thc casing at opposite sides thereof are rats 2l and condcnscrs 2:5, one vat and condenser for cach distilling kiln employed. the vat being preferably cmbeddcd in the ground, while thc condenser is preferably mounted at an elevation upon a supporting f|'.uuc\\'ork 23. The condenser may be of that type comprising an outer jacket or casinfr il and an incloscd worm or lcoil kept cool by exposure to thc ail' to the action of cooling water. ln accordance with my invention, the products ol' the process of distillation all pass outwardly from eachkiln chamber through discharge pipes 26, two of which pipes are preferably employod in connection with cach kiln, leading from opposite sides of thetransvcrso center of the kiln to the tar vat 2l. The ends of the pipe extending into this vat are provided with dcpemling tar discharge outlets 2T and vapor outlets 2H, which latter cone neet with thel` vapor conducting pipes 25) leading to the inlet of the condensing coil, the tar llowing by gravity through the pipes 2G and outlets 27 into the tank 2l, and the vapors passing through` the pipes`l29 to the condenser for condensation into turpcntine and pine oil, `Which are'later separated by specific gravity or in any other preferred manner. I

Itv will be observed that the evolved progducts are discharged from the bottoni. 'of each are kept in a condition for discharge and is uniformly and evenly diffused separation. A's the'vaporsare compelled to flow downward for discharge, the contained throughout thevkiln body, thus insuring a regular and even heating of the Wood and lits `red'uctionwto charcoal, vvhilepreventing excessive heating of the vapors and their 'consequent inJury or destruction'by the conversion. into their component gases. Furthermore, a better' grade of turpentine 1s produced. than is possible with ordinary destructive distillation processes, involving outside hea-ting, as a less intense heat is re quired for the driving oif of the constituents of the4 Wood With less liability 'of the contamination of the vapors. By reason of the construction described and arrangement of kilns'as set forth, economy of heat and fuelv is insured in an obvious manner, and inas- *much as vthe sides and ends' ofthe retort are constructed of steel expansion and contraction thereof is readily taken care of, so that the retort -willretain its shape for a long period. The bottom and top of each retortl is constructed of lconcrete in order to protect' such portions of the kiln from the action of acids `'evolved from the wood. The tar dey posited in the vat 21 is conducted therefrom into a settling tank 30prefer'ably through a steam Siphon 31, from Whichtank the tarmay be withdrawn for use when desired. Inasmuch asv the vapors are from the Wood and tar, by the process described, the necessityY cfs treating the tar for the separation of otherproducts therefrom all` recovered avoidedpwith added convenience and economy.y

I claim 1. A. wood. distilling apparatus comprising an outer inclosing casing of oblong rectangular form,-' a pluralityv of distilling chambers of corresponding form arranged within said casing, said chambers being. arranged ,on,. opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the casing and spaced from each a other and from the side Walls of the4 casing to provide intervening longitudinal lines, and also spacedfat one end from the adjacent end Wall of thecasing to provide transverse fines connecting said longitudinal fines,

the casing and distilling chambers being provided with doorways at .the opposites-end thereof, doors for closing said doorways, furnaces y. arranged at one end of the easing lon opposite sides of vthelongitudinal center thereof and communicating with the outer side and transverse iues, a furnace arranged at thevopposite end of the casing between `the doors a`d communicating with thecentral flue, and stacks at the ends of theyflues opposite the furnaces.

2.- A wood distilling apparatus including an outer casing of oblong rectangular form, distilling chambers of corresponding form arranged Withinthe outer -casing on oppo 4site sides of the longitudinal center thereof, said outer. casing and distilling chambers having doorways at one end thereof,and vsaid chambers being-spaced at their opposite ends from the opposite end of the casing'to provide transverse fluesand'also being vspaced frornleach other and"froin` the sidesof the casing to provide longitudinal central and'side iues, doors for closingsaid doorways, lheaters communicating with the lines, stacks communicating With the iiues, and horizontal longitudinal partitions separating the lower vportions of the iiues from the upper portions thereof.

In testlmon ivliereofl ailix my signaturel in presence of 

